Hi! My name is Michael Dahl. I am a lucky guy and have a wonderful life. I am joyfully married to Rebecca. And we love our spunky pup named Luca. I am an active person. I love to grow heirloom vegetables and flowers in my beautiful garden. And I am passionate about working on issues to achieve social justice.
My predisposition is to be hopeful about the world and its future.
I am also engaged in a struggle to keep chronic Anxiety and Depression at bay.
We live in challenging and chaotic times. Considering that and my mental health, I write as an act of self-care. I’ll journal to keep tabs on my mental health and regarding my passions and what brings me joy & peace. For example, I post about:
- Mental health: Find out how I try to maintain my mental health. While my meds treat my Depression, they have only reduced my Anxiety. In fact, in some entries, you’ll find I am using writing to deal with the Anxiety I am in the throes of at that very moment.
- Advocacy: I love helping people make a difference in a world they find wrong in so many ways. As an activist or advocate for roughly 35 years, I’ve had the fortune of working with and mentoring several people to this end.
- (Ending) poverty: We can end poverty. Our country has both the know-how and resources to accomplish it. I’ll share my views on how to get to that place. And you’ll also read some entries expressing anger that we’ve let one form of poverty (i.e., homelessness) get so bad over the past four decades.
- Real, Good Food: Real food is fresh, unprocessed food, while good food adds the criteria of accessibility, equity, fairness, health, diversity, humaneness, and participation. I try to play a role in increasing the supply of real, good food by growing an heirloom vegetable garden as well as supporting the seed savers that make that possible.
- Squish & Mr. Fender (and the rest of the gang): I introduce you to some critters that occupy my study. They’ve done everything from watching concerts to dabbling in local politics to cheering Mr. Bobo on as he demonstrates his rad skills as a breakdancer.
- Music: In the future, I’ll share music I enjoy and why I find some of it so impactful. Music also often alleviates the Anxiety I am feeling. I suspect there will be several posts about this specifically.
- Travel: I’ve been fortunate to have traveled to many places. While I may try to share places I’ve gone to in the past, I love journaling while visiting places I’ve never been before.
- Miscellaneous Thoughts: ‘Nuff said.
So, this blog is where I will process my thoughts and feelings, play around with ideas, pursue creative endeavors, and write about the places I’ve been and hope to go. If this interests you, I’d encourage you to subscribe, and if you really want to make me happy, comment on the posts you’ve read that interest you.